A review by sdupont
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
I had heard so many good things about this book but unfortunately I didn’t have the same response. Perhaps if I kept reading the story would’ve fallen into place more. I just felt that by page 89 there should’ve been a solid plot line occurring. What I found what that this book really would’ve benefitted from editing. There was a lot of detail about Olga’s business, there also seemed to be some plot around her romantic/sexual relationships, her congressman brother appeared to maybe have his own storyline, and then there was her activist parents particularly her mother. I think this book tried to do too much at once and it prevented the plot from being clear and evident to the reader. 

 Also, as a side note I don’t understand what purpose Jan’s death served. As someone who works in the field of HIV care, I was saddened to see a character who was set in 2017 commit suicide after seroconverting. This was jarring at the beginning of the book. Maybe this would be unpacked later and discussed with nuance but it would be nice to move past the narrative of HIV being a death sentence (with medication people can live long and relatively healthy lives).
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